THE popular Dragon Sport initiative is celebrating 10 years of boosting primary school sports provision in Wales.
For the past decade Dragon Sport has been blazing a trail in providing fun and exciting sports activities for seven to 11 year olds.
The lottery funded scheme is delivered by schools and dedicated Dragon Sport coordinators from Powys County Council has seen a radical increase in sports participation since its inception in 2000.
A staggering 98 per cent of schools in Powys are signed up to the Dragon Sport programme, with an even more impressive 3,000 sessions taking place during the last school year.
On top of that nearly 150 youngsters have been trained to become official young leaders with a further 163 teachers aided by 125 adult volunteers, leading Dragon Sport sessions in 2010.
Statistics from the past 12 months show football remains the region’s top participation sport among primary school children while athletics has grown in popularity to become second most popular.
Chair of Sport Wales, Professor Laura McAllister, said: “Dragon Sport has increased participation and interest in sport amongst children, aged seven-11 and particularly among children who might not otherwise engage in extracurricular sport.
“It has also been a great stepping stone for producing well rounded athletes.”
“We want Dragon Sport to keep on growing in its ability to empower every child and young person in Wales to be physically confident, with the basic skills from an early age to be able to participate in a variety of sports.”
One of the local stars to have emerged through the Dragon Sport initiative is Newtown High School’s Ffion Butler.
Ffion came away from the Disability Sport England National Short Course Championships in Sheffield with a bronze medal in the 50metre breaststroke and a gold medal in the 4x100 metre relay where she swam with Paralympian gold medallists Ellie Simmonds and Stephanie Millward.
Ffion’s love of swimming began at primary school where she took part in many Dragon Sport activities.
“I like to try all sports although some are more difficult because of my disability,” explained Ffion.
“Swimming helps me relax as it clears my mind when I swim the lengths. I feel that my fitness has improved overall and this helped me win the 1,500m on our sports day and I also ran the Santa Run for Newtown Swimming Club.”
Wendy Langford, Powys County Council’s Active Young People Co-ordinator, said: “Dragon Sport is a fantastic scheme to get all children, not matter what their ability, engaged in sport.
“It introduces children to what fun sport can bring to them and the benefits of taking part can be.
“Not only does the scheme benefit children, it can be a great way to get involved in sport through volunteering and leadership.
“I started off as a Dragon Sport volunteer when I was 16, helping out in various festivals and events and thanks to these experiences I’m now the council’s Active Young People Co-ordinator.”